


real heroes laugh at death

by cherriesandoranges



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aftermath, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Backstory, Deltarune References, Lots of bad language, Monster Kid is Alphys's sibling, Multi, No Smut, Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale), POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Post-Undertale Genocide Route, Rare Pairings, Spoilers - Undertale Genocide Route, Undertale Genocide Route, Verbal Frisk (Undertale), Video Game Mechanics, after two chapters, pairings are not the main focus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherriesandoranges/pseuds/cherriesandoranges
Summary: A sudden wind blows into the dimly-lit cavern. The brown-haired child, knife in their hand, stares down at her, a cold expression in their red eyes. She glares right back, despite the goo leaking from her body. “Damn it… So even with THAT power…It wasn’t enough?”-The Underground has its own most beloved icons and most unknown subjects. When the fallen child slaughters the innocent population, four of them stand up to FIGHT them, their DETERMINATION to end this mindless genocide almost even stronger than the child's own.DETERMINATION is not only a human's strength, it may also be their downfall.This SOUL is one that must be captured.Or, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, and Sans find themselves to be the only ones ready to stop the murders, while Flowey watches from the sidelines, a plan in mind.Updates around weekly on Sundays!
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Mettaton/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 20





	1. killing you is my mercy

**Author's Note:**

> I should be working on my WIP. But I am so dedicated to this fic, and I have a few prewritten chapters already. I think I'll post once a week or so. 
> 
> Not gonna lie, I'm hoping this fic will at least break the streak of fics entirely about AU Sanses. I'm here for the canon characters lol, they're so underappreciated.

A sudden wind blows into the dimly-lit cavern. The brown-haired child, knife in their hand, stares down at her, a cold expression in their red eyes. She glares right back, despite the goo leaking from her body. “Damn it… So even with THAT power…It wasn’t enough?”

The demon has a smirk on their face.

And Undyne  _ laughs _ , a horrible, raspy sound, even for her own standards. The fallen child looks confused.

“If you…”

A choking sound erupts from her throat as she tries to speak again.

“If you think that I’m gonna give up hope, you’re wrong. Cause I’ve…got my friends behind me.”   
  


The spear in her hand dissolves into cyan sparkles.

“Alphys told me-” She coughs again, dust spilling out onto her armor. Undyne promptly ignores it. “-that she would watch me fight you.”

The human- no,  _ demon _ is quiet, their red eyes a stark contrast to the rocky area around them.

She forces the lump of dust in her throat back down again and continues “And if anything went wrong, she would... evacuate everyone.”

Undyne forces herself to grin at the demon of a child. “By now she's called Asgore and told him to absorb the 6 human SOULs.” They look slightly annoyed.

“And with that power…” Pointing at them, she yells “This world will live on...!”

White goo splashes onto the demon’s shoes. They look disgusted and try to shake it off. Undyne knows she’s melting. The ground’s coming closer and closer by the second. Somehow, it doesn’t hurt at all. There’s just a numb feeling spreading all over her.

_ Alphy...good luck. You can do this. _ she thinks.  _ I love you. I’ll see you again someday. _

Then she dies.

_ … _

_ … _

_ ……… _

_ ………….. _

The silence stretches on. The demon has left, their footsteps echoing through the empty caves of Waterfall. 

Shouldn’t she be dead?

DETERMINATION, she knows, she has too much of. Alphys said that too much was deadly.

So why isn’t she dead?

Undyne tries to move her limbs.

_ *Nothing happens. _

_ Damn it.  _

A loud anime opening cuts through the silence. Miraculously, the call goes through. Must be all the goo.

“Undyne!” screams Alphys. “Are you there? Please, please, please, talk to me!” 

She tries to respond.

_ *Nothing, again. But you seem to have moved a little. _

“UNDYNE!” Alphys yells. “I’m coming, I saw you on the monitor! D-don’t worry, I can fix you up, I-I can-” She hangs up.

It feels like an eternity. 

...

_ Alphy, where are you? _

Suddenly, she’s aware of a sudden feeling, like someone’s scraping their claws against her (now-nonexistent) scales.

“Undyne...hang on!” Alphys exclaims, her voice sounding strained and exhausted.

The atmosphere shifts, becoming drier and hotter. Claws clack on metal, and a wooshing noise is heard. Alphys must have entered an elevator or something.

Undyne tries to speak, tell Alphys to look out for the demon. She can’t let them follow her and slaughter even more of the population. She ignores the burning in what’s left of her throat.

“...phy...don....le…”

“Undyne?!” she squeaks. “No, no, don’t say anything, save your energy! I’m getting you to where everyone is, t-there are some monsters with healing magic!”

Alphys’s voice is soothing. Even though she can hardly hear anything, her voice is so clear amidst the haze in her mind. 

She feels more and more tired by the second. But she’s always been a fighter, so Undyne forces herself to stay awake. For Alphys.

Don’t sleep. Don’t sleep, don’t sleep, don’t-

-and she opens her eyes.

Undyne’s staring down at the demon. Weirdly enough, they look so much different. Same attire, but an entirely different look in their eyes, one of burning hopes and dreams. They look so much more healthy too, and Undyne wonders what really happened to drive this child to mindless slaughter.

“I guess. You two. Can come on in.” her voice grinds out, the complete opposite of what she wants to say.

Papyrus is there (precious, precious, pure, kind Papyrus who no-one in the world deserved) too, it turns out, and he follows the human in, a smile on his face. How can he even go a meter near _ them _ ? 

The human glances up at Undyne. They grin at her, a toothy one not much unlike her own.

“Undyne!”

Alphys?

“Undyne, wake up!” 

It sounds like she’s crying.

“ **_Undyne!_ ** ”   
  


She snaps open her eyes. A yellow blur is taking up most of her vision, and what she can see of the room she’s in seems to be some sort of tent, with items scattered everywhere.

“Al...phy?” she croaks. The face in front of hers comes into focus. Alphys is looking at her, tears pooling in her eyes. She’s beautiful, despite the grime and tears on her face. “Undyne…” she whispers, and throws her arms around her. “What happened?” she asks, pulling away from the hug.

Alphys's overjoyous expression shifts to an upset one. “You...uhm...died. To the human. A-and, I found you, and you were still alive, somehow, and I-I brought you back here, and your body just...regenerated on its own.” 

“But you said too much DETERMINATION would kill you?” 

“I-I don’t know why. Now that I think about it, maybe I should run some tests on your SOUL, let me just get the- right...we’re not in my lab.” Alphys looks away, crossing her arms. 

Undyne pulls Alphys into a hug, pushing down her fears into that convenient fishbowl at the back of her mind.. “I’m here Alphy. That’s what that matters, right?” She sniffles into her shoulder. “Y-yeah.”

_ The human.  _ says a small part of her mind.  _ What happened to them? _

“The human!” yells Undyne, causing Alphys to yelp and look around frantically. “THE HUMAN!” she repeats. “Where the fuck are they? I’m gonna beat the shit out of them! There’s no-one to defend the Underground, I’m going to-”

“Undyne.” says Alphys, in a dead-serious tone. 

“Yeah?! Where the fuck are they now?”

“They’re fighting against Mettaton.”

“What the fuck?”

Him? Of all people to stand in their way, him? The world’s most self-absorbed idiot? Undyne scoffs, remembering the time he had laid down on her piano and ate grapes. But then again, he had always been proud of himself and the Underground. Maybe he was finally doing something not-stupid.

“They’ve been fighting for six hours.” Alphys says in a small voice. “A-according to the last message I got from him, he’s running low on power, but, um, the human’s health is low and they don’t have anything to heal themself with.”

“When did he send that message?” asks Undyne, jumping up. “Tell me where he is, I’ll give him backup! I’m gonna kill the human!”

The lizard-monster stares at the ground. “Um.”

“Alphy, it’s okay, you can tell me. I’ll go kill the human for you.”

For a moment, Undyne thinks she won’t say anything, but then she cowers into a small ball and whispers “An hour ago. I’m so worried.” She breaks out into tears. “Alphy!” Undyne exclaims, pulling Alphys into an embrace. “”It’s-it’s okay, tell me where they’re fighting, I’ll check on them-” Alphys shakes her head frantically. “No, no, no, Undyne, you’re still hurt! And you’ll die again!”   
  


Pleading eyes look up at her. 

_ There’s only one way to end this, whether I live to see it or not. _

“I won’t. I’m gonna kill that sorry excuse for a child. And I’m going to save your friend, no matter how annoying he is.” Undyne says confidently, walking out the door of the small tent. 

Alphys watches her leave, claws gripping the sleeves of her lab coat out of anxiety.

“Uh, wait, where are they?” Undyne asks, sticking her head back in.

“CORE.” she squeaks.

“Thanks, Alphy! By the way, you’re cute today!”   
  


Alphys collapses in a heap on the floor, out of both nervousness and embarrassment.

-

Undyne adjusts her armor as she strides down the hallways of the CORE. She was lucky that her armor melted together with her and reformed as well. 

A spear shimmers into existence in her hand.

“Here I come, motherfucker.” she growls, charging straight through the door.

_*Stage lights are blaring._ _The scent of iron wafts though the air._ reads the battle GUI. 

Strangely enough, the GUI - it’s changed, and Undyne can see her own battle options at the bottom of her vision, together with her health. To her surprise, she can see Mettaton’s health bar and options as well. He’s critically low, and Undyne thanks the stars that she brought healing items. There’s also an orange bar labelled TP at the left.

“HEY!” Undyne roars. “Look over here, fuckers!”

Both demon and robot (She could hardly recognize him in that... _ unique _ form) look over at her.

“Undyne!” gasps Mettaton. “You’re-”

He just barely dodges a slash at his midriff from the demon.

She readies her spear and tosses a sandwich at him. He eats it without complaint. 

Undyne throws a volley of spears at the demon. They dodge nimbly, running close to make the kill. They slice at her armor, and Undyne prepares for the blow.

_ MISS _ flashes across her sight.

The knife glances harmlessly off her armor, and the demon stops, evident confusion in their eyes.

Mettaton takes the opportunity and shoots missiles at them. They manage to dodge most of them, but they take a shot straight to the stomach. To Undyne’s discomfort, red liquid leaks from the wound. Usually attacks don’t do anything to your physical body…but Mettaton’s using physical attacks against them.

“How dare you.” says the demon, their voice like the knife they used to slice down everyone. They don’t seem affected, despite the gaping wound visible through their tattered sweater.

Instinctively, Undyne steps closer to Mettaton, whose health had replenished, and the two stand back to back, weapons aimed at the demon. It’s kind of sad, Undyne thinks, that the first time they would get along would be against a megalomaniac child.

They cackle. “You fools. Do you really think teaming up will allow you to kill me?”

“Maybe.” replies Mettaton, a nonchalant tone in his voice. The demon hisses “Arrogant as always.”

“I think you’re the arrogant one!” Undyne retorts. 

The fallen child growls at them and grips their knife. “You’re going to **_die._ ** ”

_ *A song plays in the background. A theme fit for a hero- no, two heroes.  _

Undyne defends, holding her spear like the shields in her Green SOUL mode. The TP bar goes up. Weird. Mettaton copies her, the cannon on his right hand switching to a sword. The TP bar rises again.

Knives slice across the battle box, and Undyne evades every one thrown at her. 

The human growls again and goes in for another hit. The MAGIC button on the battle options is glowing, and Undyne turns to her companion. “Use your magic!”

He nods, pressing the button. “Spectral Lightning?” he murmurs, a slightly sad look in his eyes. It’s weird that a robot has a ghost attack, but Undyne ignores it and yells “Cast it!”

“Don’t rush me!” screeches Mettaton, but he casts the spell anyway. The TP bar goes back down again. Seems like the bar measures energy for casting spells. Undyne wonders why she hasn’t seen it in ordinary battles.

Transparent pink lightning bolts shoot at the human, who’s so taken aback by the ghostly attack that they get hit by the first few. Their HP is dangerously low. Good.

The fallen child looks even more enraged, and they reluctantly hold up their knife to DEFEND.

_ *The demon’s blood drips on the ground. _

Undyne checks her MAGIC option. Enough TP for the Spear Rush spell. She casts it, as Mettaton defends, raising the bar again.

Spears fly across the battle box, but the human dodges them all. They grin as their health restores itself a little. She’s reminded of a similar smile, one from a child not corrupted by murder.

“Just die already!” exclaims Mettaton out of frustration. 

The human gives them both a smirk. Undyne watches them, ready for any tricks they’re going to pull. 

Then they turn heel and run out the back door. “What the hell!” Undyne screams, running after. Mettaton follows her, fiddling with something on his arm. “There it is!” He flies right past her, his boots expelling jets of flame. “Rocket boots  _ and  _ wings?! I want that shit...” she mutters.

They pursue the human down the corridor, but they’re surprisingly fast, somehow even evading Mettaton. They run into the elevator and the doors slam shut just as he gets there, vines wrapping around the door. “Fucking hell!” he shrieks, stomping his foot. “I thought that this was family-friendly?” Undyne jokes. He looks at her, surprise in his pink eyes, and smiles a little. “Darling, the second they got that knife was the second this show stopped being family-friendly.”

-

The duo make it back to the hidden elevator. The doors close, and Mettaton leans against the wall, sinking onto the floor. “I’m so tired.” he groans. Undyne snickers. “No shit, you know you’ve been fighting for like seven hours?” 

“That long? My circuits must be absolutely overloaded.”

Both of them fall silent. Unlike all the other times they talked, this silence isn’t uncomfortable. It must have been the fight that made her realise why he wasn’t as much of a jerk as she had thought.

“Hey. Metta.” she says. He laughs. “Is that really the nickname you have for me, darling?” Undyne shrugs in response. “Anyway,” she continues, “What was with you having a ghost attack?” He freezes up. “Uh.” 

For once, the charismatic actor doesn’t have lines to read from a script.

Mettaton takes a deep breath and runs his hand through his hair. “Do you know who Bl- Napstablook is?”

Undyne nods, not understanding why he’d bring up the reclusive ghost. “Yeah, he’s my neighbor.”

“Do you remember their cousin?”

“Which one?”

“The...one who disappeared.”

She nods again. “The pink one, Happstablook, right?”

“Yes.” There’s no trace of the dramatic, overzealous star in his voice. It sounds more…raw, and there’s an echoey quality to it. 

It’s familiar. So familiar. “You’re them. You act just like them!” she realises. “You’re obsessed with the color pink, you dreamed of being famous - well, you are now - and your magical attacks were centered around electricity!” 

“I disappeared, remember? And Blooky was so sad…” He looks at her, shame in his eyes. “I left them all alone, all because I was a selfish  _ prick _ .”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay!” (Why was she comforting everyone today?) She scoots closer and cautiously wraps her arms around him. He makes a small noise of surprise but doesn’t protest. 

-

The two stagger into the clearing that’s the middle of the temporary home/campsite of the evacuees. At some point during their walk, Mettaton’s leg gave way, and Undyne had had to help him back. 

Monster Kid gasps at the sight of them and exclaims “I’ll get Alphys!” They scutter off, yelling their sister’s name.

The other monsters notice them as well. At first it’s quiet as the two stand in the middle of the clearing, Mettaton’s arm slung over Undyne’s shoulder. Then the cheering starts. Undyne grins, and Mettaton smiles weakly. 

Alphys shuffles out of one of the many tents. “Oh my gosh!” She hurries over, beckoning for them to follow.

Inside the tent that seems to be alphys's temporary lab, Mettaton collapses against the wall. Alphys looks at him with concern. “How’s your leg?” 

“Absolutely demolished, darling. Please help me.” Alphys nods and gives him a once-over. “I have a second one here, gimme a second-” She roots under the table and pulls out a new robotic leg. Taking out a screwdriver, she attaches the limb in place of the broken one.

“There.” she says. “I think it’s best if you switch to one of your other forms now.” 

Mettaton makes a noise of assent and flips a switch on his left arm. One transformation later, he’s sitting on the table as a less deadly, more pink version of his NEO form.  _ Much better for a performance _ , Undyne thinks.

Alphys turns to Undyne and asks “A-are you okay?” She grins lopsidedly. “ ‘Course I am, Alphy. Might need some food, but I’m fine.” They stare at each other. She can’t help but admire the scales on her face. They’re small and some glimmer golden instead of yellow. 

_ Stunning. _

“Kiss, kiss, kiss.” chants Mettaton quietly.

Undyne glares at him and looks back at Alphys, who whispers “N-not unless you want to.” 

_ She wants to kiss me? _

“You want to kiss me?” Undyne finds herself saying.

Alphys blushes and looks away.

Out of pure impulse, Undyne grabs the sides of Alphys's face and pulls her in for a deep kiss. Mettaton whoops in the background. “So early into the fic, too!” he exclaims.

It’s like she’s jumping on clouds, holding Alphys's claw, a giant anime sword in her other hand, peaceful piano music playing while fluffy white dogs fly everywhere. 

When they finally break apart, Alphys's face is flushed, and Undyne is sure hers is too. “Not bad for a first time, huh?”

“N-not bad at all.” Alphys replies, a sweet smile on her face, happy tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Mettaton smirks at them. “I always knew you two were perfect for each other.”

Suddenly, a beeping sounds from alphys's coat pocket. She pulls out her phone and squints at the screen. 

“What is it?” asks Undyne, looking as well. 

The human is in the Judgement Hall, grinning devilishly at Sans, who has a grin of his own, only a more lazy one.

“Oh no.” Alphys whispers, the color draining from her face.


	2. and smile- it's closing night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mettaton runs off to help Sans fight the human in New Home. Shippy stuff happens, and a tribute is made for the fallen monsters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Late update, but still. Wasn't super happy with how this chapter turned out, but no time to dwell on my mistakes. (By the way, there's a POV switch. If you're familiar with Undertale the Musical, chapter titles are taken from the POV character's Genocide song.)

“Oh no.” whispers Alphys.

“What?” asks Mettaton, standing up and looking over Undyne’s shoulder.

A small skeleton stands there, hands in pockets as he grins lazily at the human.

“I thought everyone evacuated…” mumbles Undyne.

Mettaton stares at the skeleton. “I recognize him...that’s Sans, right?” The comedian that occasionally performs at his hotel. Sometimes he watches the stand-up skits that Sans holds, and they’re actually quite funny. 

Alphys nods, swiping through the various camera feeds from the Judgement Hall. “He’s basically defenseless.” Undyne says, horror in her voice. “He has 1 DF and 1 ATK, he’s not gonna last a second.”

There’s a curious feeling in him. It’s like every gear in his body is telling him to go to Sans and help him. Like he’s drawn to him or something. But that doesn’t really make much sense, does it? The feeling persists, nagging at the back of his mind.

Maybe he can do something for someone that isn’t himself, for once.

“I’m going.” he says abruptly, stepping out of Alphys’s tent. He flips his switch, triggering his transformation back into his NEO form. “W-what?! No, no, don’t go!” Alphys exclaims. “Darling, I have to do this. I don’t know why, but I just have to.” Mettaton replies, slight sadness in his voice. “If I don’t return, tell Blooky that I’m sorry.” 

His wings blaze light pink, and he flies up. “Goodbye!” he calls. Alphys reaches out a claw in a feeble attempt to stop him. “Don’t go-” Undyne pulls her back down-. “No. He’s determined to do this. I’ll go after if he ends up needing help.”

“I won’t need help, darling, but thanks for the offer!” 

He waves goodbye and fires up his rockets. Alphys watches yet another of her friends leave to save another, her claw raised in farewell. Undyne sighs and drags her back into the tent.

Mettaton makes it to New Home in record time, alighting in the area just outside the Hall. He loads his cannon and enters the corridor, ignoring his nagging fears. 

The human is faced away from him, facing the skeleton instead. If Sans had noticed him enter, he makes no sign of it. 

He aims the cannon at the demon. “Begone, demon!” he yells (a little overdramatic, but it works), just as he fires it off. They turn around too late, and it hits them right in the place where he had wounded them last time.

Sans gives him a lazy grin. “hey metty.” Like they were old friends or something. He scoffs. “Is that really all you say? I just saved your poor, defenseless SOUL.” The other chuckles. “nah, i’m not entirely defenseless.” Mettaton tilts his head. “Darling, Undyne said you had 1 ATK and DF.” Sans shrugs. “doesn’t mean i can’t just dodge.” He smiles at that, walking right past the demon who’s laying on the ground and joins Sans.

The fallen child stands up again, burning hatred in their eyes. “You.” they seethe.

“Me.” He replies, a smirk on his face.

_ *Neolovania? Power of Megalovania? You’re not sure what your mashup theme’s called. _

The battle GUI is the strange, team-up one that he had had when Undyne joined their battle. Mettaton decides to DEFEND, holding up his sword. Sans picks FIGHT, sending bone attacks at the human. They try their best to dodge, but they get hit by one. Their HP bar flashes pink, of all things, and goes down slowly, making them take a huge chunk of damage.

“Pink. I like it.” 

Sans flashes a genuine smile at him. “knew ya would.”

The human looks absolutely pissed at the casual conversation, unfit for a battle over the fate of the Underground, and runs forward to slash at them. Both of them jump to the side, easily evading.

“Sans, darling.” he calls.

“hm?”

“Do you know how to dance?”

Sans dodges another slash, and after a pause he answers “...yeah, paps and i used to do it for fun.”

“Let’s dance then, shall we?”

Momentary confusion flits over Sans's face, but then he nods slowly. “sounds good to me.”

The demon glares at them.

_ *Dance of the Dead. A ghost and a skeleton.  _

Both of them pick FIGHT. Sans summons a giant skull-like creature, blue light building up in its mouth. Mettaton charges up his cannon, and fires it off just as he does. The battle box is entirely overtaken by pink and blue light, unfair, to be sure, but the demon didn’t really think of fairness when they killed everyone, did they?

Their health drops to around half. A growl comes from the human, and their knife slashes through the air, creating waves of red light. The two flit around the corridor, deftly dodging every wave.

“Stop dodging!” snarls the human, their face contorted in a horrifying expression. Sans chuckles at their face and shrugs. “it’s just a dance, kiddo.

_ *Light filters in through the stained-glass windows. _

This turn around, Sans DEFENDs, and the TP bar rises. Mettaton chooses MAGIC, and casts Spectral Lightning. The fallen child dodges the bolts, their face still contorted in an inhuman scowl. Sans watches the attack, a questioning look in his eyes.

“Your slaughter can’t continue any longer, you know.” Mettaton says, staring dead into those red eyes. “This’ll be your final act, child of man.”

“More like yours!” they retaliate, lunging at him. Suddenly, their SOUL flashes cyan, and they’re thrown backwards. “IT’S MY TURN!” they wail.

“we’re not really gonna follow the rules when you’ve killed everyone.” replies Sans. He moves his arm quickly, pointing in various directions. The demon’s SOUL is slammed against the walls of the battle box, and they cry out in pain. 

Mettaton charges an extra-powerful shot, filling the whole box with the pink cannon. Their HP is pathetically low, so he switches his cannon for the sword, and slices down.

The human’s eyes widen as their SOUL shatters. Sans rushes forward and grabs pieces of it in a glass jar. “What’s that for, darling?”

“i’m stopping them from ever coming back.” he explains. “they can come back from death if their SOUL is completely unbound. but if it’s in a jar, it can’t really reform.” 

He wonders how Sans knew this. but says “That’s quite smart.” anyway.

“heh. thanks.”

“Shall we go back to the others now?”

“sure, metty.”

“That nickname? Really?”

“eh, i like it.”

He presses a button beside his audio receivers. “Alphys, darling. We’ve done it. We’re coming back soon.”

-

Mettaton puts Sans down in front of the camp, after the flight back to Hotland. “man, that really rattled me up.” he says. In response, Mettaton jokes “You could say that...you didn’t have the stomach for it!” Sans chuckles at the pun. “good one, metty. you’re tickling my funny bone.” He bites his lip, a mischievous smile on his face. “Thanks darling, I’m pretty  _ humerus _ , aren’t I?” Sans laughs again. “more like pretty.” 

A blush creeps over his face (Damn you, Alphys, for adding a blush function!). “Oh my... quite straightforward.” He leans down, hands on his hips, looking into Sans's eyes. “Imagine the scandal if the Underground’s star was caught flirting with a skeleton sentry, of all people.” 

“heh, i can’t imagine that.”

He knows that he’s taking the probably-a-joke flirting a little far, but he leans in even closer, almost kissing him at this point. “Really? Maybe you just need a little help~”   
  


“HEY!” yells Undyne. “What the hell are you two doing?! You’ve been standing here for like ten minutes!” 

They jump apart, a blush on Mettaton’s face and a sheepish grin on Sans's.

“sorry, dyne, just talking.”

“That didn’t look like talking!”

She squints suspiciously at the two, who attempt to look as innocent as possible.

“Ugh, just get your asses in. Everyone’s waiting.”   
  


They follow her into the clearing, and are greeted with cheering from all around. The remaining monsters are whooping loudly. “Yoooo!” Monster Kid exclaims. “You guys are my heroes too!” Mettaton, of course, basks in the attention, while Sans lags behind, giving a lazy wave to whoever makes eye contact with him.

Undyne pulls the flap of Alphys’s tent aside and ushers them in. Alphys looks up from the object she’s fiddling with. Her eyes widen. She runs straight to him and hugs him tightly. “I was so worried!” she exclaims. Mettaton pats Alphys on the head. “There, there, don’t cry, I’m right here, darling.” He’s surprised at how much care he feels for Alphys. 

_ I always thought I’d forgotten how to really feel.  _ he thinks, lamenting his admittedly-jerkish demeanor.  _ Why’d it have to take a human slaughtering most of my audience for me to realize? _

The moment is broken. Alphys sniffles and releases him from the embrace. “Y-yeah.”

Sans sits on a nearby table. “so, what’re we all doing here? somethin’ important?” Undyne nods, a grim expression on her face. “The population,” she begins, “We’re so few now.” Alphys says “A-and some species of Monsters have gone entirely extinct, or no-one can find the remaining ones. The Dogs are almost all gone, um, except for that one called Toby. Apparently he absorbed a Legendary Artifact and became immortal.”

She pulls out a book. “A-actually, I’ve even looked through all the species of Monsters and documented which ones are now extinct.” Undyne clenches her fists, and mutters “That human deserved to die. They ripped apart so many families, ended so many lives…” She trails off, the spark in her eyes becoming more forlorn.

Mettaton looks at Sans, whose smile has become more forced. “yeah. they’re a piece of shit.” he agrees. 

Alphys clears her throat. “Uh- um, and... do you guys want me to talk about everyone?”

The group nods, an unanimous decision. “As a tribute.” says Mettaton, hardly registering the words he’s saying. The others echo him, a quiet sadness in their voices. 

He hears about the monsters of the Underground, his  _ audience _ .

Snowdrake, a teenage comedian who happened to stumble upon the wrong person.

The Snowdin Canine Unit, Undyne’s faithful friends and soldiers. Good boys and girls to the end.

Papyrus, (Sans starts to quietly cry when Alphys says his name, and Mettaton pulls him close in a hug.) the kindest person to ever exist on this earth. No-one deserved him and his loving heart. He even believed in the human’s inner goodness the whole time.

Shyren, the aspiring singer from Waterfall. (He knows her all too well, and there’s a pang in his chest when Alphys mentions her.)

Mad Dummy (His cousin. His  _ cousin _ . The pang in his chest amplifies tenfold, and he thinks he might actually let his mask of perfection shatter.).

Everyone who hadn’t evacuated Hotland. Innocent souls lost to their massacre.

At the end of Alphys’s list, there’s extreme silence.

Mettaton reaches his hand up to his face to rub at his eyes, and when he pulls it away, he finds transparent pink tears.

Undyne is tugging at her hair, choked sobs escaping her throat.

Sans has stopped crying, and instead is standing still, a dull look in his eyes.

Alphys walks over to Undyne, burying her face in her shirt and sobbing loudly.

The saviors of the Underground, gathered in a small tent, paying respects to the countless lives lost to the fallen child’s mindless murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments fuel my DETERMINATION to write!
> 
> Also, just because the Genocide Route's been stopped doesn't mean there's no more plot...
> 
> Updates will be weekly? Might speed up since summer is coming.


	3. i've read, i've burned, killed, saved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A different perspective. A plan set in motion. A reunion of fallen children.

He watches the four conversing quietly together as they walk down a back street of New Home. _How fitting_ , he thinks, _that Chara would be taken down by monsters somehow more Determined than them._

A small part of him wants him to be the one to have stopped them, but he would never stoop so low to stop this genocide. And he promised himself, all those years ago, when he was a small monster who had just seen his first human, to never hurt his best friend, didn’t he?

Asriel - _no,_ it’s Flowey, it’s Flowey, he’s not that part of himself anymore, why does he make that **_mistake_ **?! - continues to observe the little group. He can sense them, he can sense Chara calling out to him. He knows he’s got to save them, his best friend shouldn’t be in a cage like that! Maybe they could RESET, maybe this time they could do everything right.

He whispers to the soil, feels his vines tunneling through the ground. He can hear snippets of the conversation, and he leans closer.

A voice Flowey recognizes as Mettaton’s says “So, what’s our next move?” 

“W-well, Asgore... um, hasn’t been seen for some time.” replies Alphys, the sound of her nervous shuffling even audible through his vine-listening. Sans - ew, smiley trashbag - inhales sharply. “yikes. but the king wouldn’t abandon us when we need a leader the most, right?” Undyne huffs. “ ‘Course he wouldn’t! Asgore would never do that!” 

The little part of him that’s Asriel (because he isn’t as naive ~~kind~~ as _that_ anymore, even though he wishes he was) agrees strongly with this statement, and he feels like he’s suddenly about to burst into tears and go crying to his parents.

But they’re dead, aren’t they? Just like him! So Flowey pushes down that part of himself, stuffs it into a ring of pellets and forces it to a back corner of his mind.

He turns his attention back to the conversation. A crisp wind blows through, ruffling his petals and sending shivers down his stem. Alphys is explaining something about her cameras to the others, and he suppresses a yawn. Not something he cares about. 

He’s already gotten to find out the important things, hasn’t he? He casts a glance around and ventures a little closer. The SOUL container’s right there, Chara is right there! His vines get closer, and closer, and they’re just within his grasp-

“hey. did you guys hear something?” 

Flowey freezes up. Damn that perceptive skeleton!

“No, are you sure it wasn’t just a rustling in the bushes, darling?”

“eh, you make a point.”

They continue on their walk, and Flowey sighs in relief. The SOUL container (well, it’s really just a jar with cords on it like a backpack), strapped to Alphys’s back is completely unnoticed, and his vines snake around the lid, quietly removing it. Mentally congratulating himself, he reaches for the SOUL inside.

The second his vines wrap around the pulsing red SOUL, Chara’s voice fills his head. “Greetings.” Their voice is tired, more strained than he remembers it. He supposes it must be because they’re currently bodiless. He hurriedly replaces the lid of the jar and dives into the ground, tunneling away from the troublesome little group of so-called heroes.

When he’s sure he’s safe, he whispers “Chara? Are you there?” 

“You seem quite familiar.”

“Chara, it’s me! Your best friend!”

“...Azzy?”

“Chara!”

The SOUL pulses brighter, and Flowey can feel some of the Determination seeping out, filling him with renewed energy. “Chara,” he breathes, “I’ve missed you.” 

“Asriel, why’re you a flower?”

“It’s a long story. But I’ve missed you, Chara, I’ve missed you so much!”

Despite the fact that he shouldn’t be able to feel emotions, a surge of warmth wells up within him. 

Chara laughs a little. “Asriel, are you trying to hug me? Because I’m incorporeal.”

“No, I’m actually not trying to hug you.”

“Huh, surprising.”

They fall silent. Flowey watches the slow pulsing of the red SOUL, like a heartbeat. The atmosphere turns a little chilly. When Chara speaks again, it’s with a colder tone of voice.

“Asriel, remember the plan?”

“Yeah.”

“Absorb my SOUL. Do it.”

Flowey nods, because he knows he can trust them, he can trust his best friend, and pushes the red heart into his stem.

Memories wash over him, Chara’s side of their conversations, their life on the surface, their time as a bodiless being left to narrate the fallen child’s journey. More and more flood in, his heart and mind bursting with feelings both strong and conflicting.

_*You’re filled with DETERMINATION._

_Asriel_ gasps, a smile growing over his face.

“Chara! You’re with me now!”

Then he frowns. His emotions seem to have returned, his original memories escaping the little box in the back of his mind. But he can’t feel anything, anything at all for the countless RESETs and murders he committed. “Chara?” he whispers, noting his voice’s shift back to his original one. “What’s wrong with me?” 

_Nothing, Asriel. There wouldn’t be anything wrong with you._ they reply smoothly, their flat tone evident in their voice.

Asriel nods, knowing he can always trust them.

“What’re we gonna do now?”

_We need to get on the good side of Undyne and her friends._

“Wha- why?”  
  


 _Because, Asriel, don’t question it!_ they hiss, their voice morphing into something unlike theirs, much more like the fallen child’s was. But he understands why. Chara’s just used to being with the other human. It’s not like they’re in there somewhere, right? Chara’s got to be in control.

Chara takes a deep breath. _Sorry, Az. I didn’t mean to scare you._

“No, no, it’s fine, Chara, I get it!” he chirps. “But really, could you please explain?”  
  


They’re quiet. _Alright._ They explain the plan to him, step by step, and he expects himself to feel horrified, scream that they don’t deserve this, but he feels nothing.

Nothing at all. Only a feeling of assent, a feeling of growing joy at Chara’s genius plan.

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Asriel exclaims. “But why would they ever trust us?”

_Simple. We distract them enough so they stay away from the Lab, is all._

“Ohhhhh! Chara, you’re way too smart!”

They pause, then Asriel thinks they might have smiled if they had a body. “Thanks, Az.” they reply, warmth replacing the chill in their voice and reassuring him that all is okay.

-

He shakes the bottle of clear liquid experimentally. “So I just load this into a friendliness pellet and shoot it at him?”

_Yes,_ they say impatiently, _hurry up and do it now._

“Alright, alright!”

Asriel pours it into a hollow pellet, and from his perch on a ledge high above the evacuees’ campground takes aim.

His target is chattering idly away to the others, completely unaware of what’s soon to come.

He cackles quietly to himself, hearing Chara join in, and fires off.

Down there, Undyne shrugs and says “It’s not like there’s going to be any kinds of threats now that the human’s dead, right?” Sans opens his mouth to respond, when a choked gasp comes from beside him. 

Mettaton collapses into Sans’s waiting arms, and Undyne looks around frantically, yells “Alphys! Get over here, something happened to Mettaton!”

Asriel and Chara congratulate each other, and he tunnels away, unbridled glee in his expression.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, shorter chapter. But the next chapters are about to go from 0 to 100 real quick! (if i can write it right lol). The Flowey perspective is a one-off thing for this chapter, so don't expect it to pop up again. The story will probably cycle between Undyne's and Mettaton's POV.
> 
> Anyway, kudos and comments always appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated! I'd love to hear what you guys think about this story! Constructive criticism is welcome, especially on my characterizations, as this is my first time writing an Undertale fic. However, I won't tolerate people insulting me. (I mean, who does?)


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